Blacksmithing

Blacksmith

Barnardsville, NC (Buncombe County)

Doc Cudd traces the blacksmith's trade back more than 400 years in his family, in both parents' lineages. His ancestors came from the British Isles to Southern Appalachia, and he knows that a great-grandfather on his mother's side was a blacksmith in Cade's Cove, now the most visited part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Cudd himself began blacksmithing at the age of 10.

Oldtime musicians and craftspeople

Brasstown, NC (Clay County)

Chuck and Peggy Patrick, natives of Blairsville, Georgia, grew up learning traditional mountain music and crafts. Peggy's father and grandmother were both square dance callers, and from her family she learned much oldtime and gospel music. Chuck, who is also an oldtime musician, was trained by his stepfather in several traditional crafts. His stepfather's family ran Jackson Forge in Blairsville, and taught Chuck blacksmithing skills, which he uses today in his crafting of knives and other edged tools.